Israeli strike on Gaza school kills at least 22

Enclave's Health Ministry says more than 119 killed in 72 hours

Palestinians grieve next to the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza city. EPA

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An Israeli air strike on a school where displaced people had sought shelter in Gaza city's Al Zeitoun neighbourhood has killed at least 22 people, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Israel's strikes on Gaza have killed at least 119 people in the past 72 hours, the ministry said, excluding the latest attack on the school.

The Gaza government media office condemned the "horrific" attack on the school.

"This horrific massacre comes as part of the crime of genocide committed by the Israeli occupation, as the number of shelters bombed by the occupation reached 181 displacement and shelter centres," it said.

Another strike hit Al Falah school in the same area, injuring several people. The Israeli military said Hamas fighters were operating in the school.

Israel often accuses Hamas militants of hiding in schools where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. The group has repeatedly denied these allegations.

The death toll in the enclave since October 7 has risen to 41,391, while 95,760 have been wounded, the ministry said in its latest update. Over the past three days, 209 people were injured.

The ministry said that four of its workers were killed and six injured in a strike on its warehouses in the area of Masbah in southern Gaza on Saturday. It added that ambulances could not reach the site to recover the bodies or treat the injured.

Eight people were injured in a strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the ministry said, while at least four were killed in a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Rescuers recovered their bodies and several injured people. Israeli artillery also struck houses east of Rafah.

This latest war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.